Teacher’s Post About A Gift From A Student Who Had “Nothing To Give” Goes Viral

Rachel Uretsky-Pratt, a 24-year-old elementary school teacher in Kennewick, Washington, receives gifts of all sorts from her students at the end of each calendar year, the Washington Post reports. But it was one child (and the gift she came up with) who particularly touched her this year.

That’s why, when “this student opened up her free breakfast cereal this morning, took the packaging of her spork, straw, and napkin, and finally took the time to take every marshmallow out of her cereal to put in a bag,” she was particularly astounded: “This kiddo wanted to get [me] something so badly, but had nothing to give.” Still, the child had gone out of her way to put together something special and sweet.

Since the post went up, it’s been shared more than 125,000 times and has received tens of thousands of comments. The overwhelming response prompted Uretsky-Pratt to update her story this week, explaining her “wish for all of you is to remember this kind and simple gesture of love from one of my school babies and carry it with you and continue to spread love and kindness to everyone you meet.”